GEMmy Awards: for excellent, under-the-radar travel stops

That is how my
dictionary defines the word “gem,” and I am a proud member of an organization which
recognizes the overlooked but exceptional in the world of travel.

The GEMmy Award
goes to outstanding attractions, sites, events, accommodations, restaurants,
drives, walks or excursions. Nominators agree that what they have experienced is
an under-the-radar gem.

The point is to
make a wider audience aware of lesser known but excellent reasons to travel.

I was thinking
about this while in Milwaukee recently, to hear Gary Knowles of Madison present
GEMmy awards to three destinations.

Midwest Travel
Writers Association began the awards in 1992, and now the group is known as
Midwest Travel Journalists Association. Knowles is MTJA president, and
nominations from MTJA members gain approval from the group’s board of director
too.

The three new
Milwaukee winners are:

Urban Ecology
Center, whose grounds, programs
and activities teach an appreciation and respect for the environment. Easier
access to the natural world and environmental preservation also are priorities.

Center membership, $50
per year, includes free use of garden tools to camping gear, snowshoes to
kayaks.

The center’s
“presence in three park-side locations puts the natural world at the doorstep
of a wide swath of the city of Milwaukee,” writes Amy Eckert of Holland, Mich.,
in her nomination.

“I was impressed
with the efforts to educate an urban population from a young age,” adds
Patricia Wood Winn of Chicago.

Check out the guided hikes, environmental work projects, art classes and what to do on your own at urbanecologycenter.org.

Gothic Milwaukee tours, established by former English
teacher Anna Lardinois, shake out the ghosts, scandals and history of Cream
City. These 90-minute evening walks depart from Cathedral Square downtown and
happen rain or shine.

“Anna may look
Victorian and prim, but her stories are rollicking and her humor sharp-witted,”
writes Lori Erickson of Iowa City, Iowa. “Her tours are a wonderful way for
visitors to be introduced to the folklore, history and architecture of
Milwaukee.”

The guide “engages
her audiences with humor, then feeds them facts and fantasies in equal
measure,” adds Susan Kraus of Lawrence, Kansas. “Her tours may be the highlight
of many a family trip.”

Grohmann Museum, in the Milwaukee School of Engineering, contains
the world’s largest collection of art devoted to work, especially blue-collar
work.

“From its rooftop
to its lower level, the art that emphasizes ‘man at work’ is breathtaking,”
writes Todd Wessell of Des Plaines, Ill. “Of special note are floor mosaics
that depict everyday life of working men and women.”

“Visitors won’t
forget the scenes and faces from these artworks,” adds Mark Shuman of Crystal
Lake, Ill. “The museum’s patron, German-American industrialist Eckhart G.
Grohmann, has given his adopted hometown a treasure house of artistic gems.”

“Engineering and
art … that’s an oxymoron,” observes Mike Whye of Council Bluffs, Iowa, but “by
the time I left, I had eaten my thoughts rather thoroughly” because the art
shows “the greatness and beauty of mankind’s ability to create industries to
improve everyone’s lives.”

Consult msoe.edu/grohmann-museum for more about the museum and its holdings. More than 1,400 pieces of art, dating back to 1580, are in the collection.

—

Eleven other GEMmy
Award winners are in Wisconsin (award date in parentheses).

Around 100 GEMmys have been awarded in the United States and beyond since 1992. For the complete list, click “awards” at mtja.us.

Members of MTJA,
formerly known as the Midwest Travel Writers Association, are from 13 states.
Membership requirements are online.

—

Reminder: A new edition of Atlas Obscura has been published, and atlasobscura.com describes thousands of additional destinations that are unique and lesser known, throughout the world. What else should be added? Tell me about the truly weird and wonderful that you’ve seen – in 50 words or less – for a chance to receive a copy of Atlas Obscura. Your deadline is Oct. 31, and whatever you write about should be open to the public.

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